MA-01: Progressives zero in on another House chairman in primary
Progressives energized by last week’s congressional primaries have another high-ranking House Democrat in their sights: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts.
Neal, 71, is facing a challenge from Alex Morse, a 31-year-old mayor who was born just a few weeks after Neal began his first term in Congress.
Morse spent Tuesday in New York campaigning for progressive insurgent Jamaal Bowman, who holds a double-digit lead over House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel as officials continue to tally up the votes.
He hopes to build on last week’s strong showing by the left in New York and Kentucky with a primary victory on Sept. 1 against Neal in the 1st Congressional District, which spans the western and central parts of Massachusetts.
“Eliot Engel and Richard Neal were elected to Congress on the same day back in 1988,” Morse said in an interview with The Hill. “They’re both chairs of committees that are part of House Democratic leadership, and are out of touch with their districts.”
Morse — the mayor of Holyoke, a city with a population of about 40,000 — faces an uphill climb against a prominent member of Congress. In 2018, Neal easily fended off a progressive challenger and had no Republican opponent in the general election for the solidly Democratic seat.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/504860-progressives-zero-in-on-another-house-chairman-in-primary
